Towing system for ships.



@MEYER & R. KOSS.

TOWING SYSTEM FOR SHIPS. APPLICATION F1LD Aud.26. 1913.

l 1 9 l ,332. Patented. July 18, 1916.

'entre srarns r,

GEORG MEYER, OF BERLIN-CHARLOTTENBURG, AND RICHARD KOSS, OF MNSTER', WESTPHAIJIA, GERMANY, ASSIGNORS TO SIEMENS-SCI-IUCKERT WERKE G'r. M. B. H., OF BERLIN, GERMANY, A CORPORATION OF GERMANY.

TOWING SYSTEM FOR SHIPS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

atenteol July i8, iigi.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, Gaone MEYER and mirano Koss, citizens of the German Empire, respectively residing at Berlin-Charlottenburg and Mnster, lVestphalia, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Towing Systems for Ships, of which the following is a specification.

Gur invention relates to a system for towing ships in which the tug-boat'moves by means of driven friction rollers uponv av flexible rail or guide which is mounted at the bottom of a river or canal.

The object of our invention is to devise a simple mode of anchoring al rail or guide for this purpose.`

According to our invention the flexible rail or guide is fixed to the bottom of the canal or river in a manner to be detachable therefrom, so that it may easily be lifted during the passing of the tug-boat, and so that it will not yield to a force acting in its longitudinal direction. The anchoring between rail and bottom of the canal or river may either be accomplished according to the principle of a frictional or claw-coupling, the advantage being` obtained that the rail will be able to be easily mounted and removed as desired and further will be well adapted for serving to guide the tug-boat.

Our invention will be more fully understood by reference to the accompanying drawing of which- Figure l shows an arrangement for mounting the rail by means of spaced concrete blocks, Fig. 2 an arrangement whereby the rail is provided with projections engaged by recesses in said concrete blocks and serving for retaining the rail in position, Fig. 3 a modification in which mandrels or extensions projecting from the rail simply enter into the bed of the canal or river thereby preventing the rail from moving 1n longitudinal or transverse direction. Fig. t

shows an arrangement employing rail ties for coupling the rail, Figs. 5, 6, 7 and` 8 are longitudinal views of the arrangements shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4:, respectively.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, a in Figs. l and 5 are concrete blocks which are evenly spaced and upon which the rail Z) is mounted, said rail being made of a proper hollow cross-section to rest upon said blocks by means of the downwardly directed lateral parts or shanks of the rail, as clearly shown in the drawing. These concrete blocks a also will prevent the rail from drifting to the side in case of a transverse l`liow of the water, and by `reason of the three contact surfaces will augment the frictional resistance between therail and the concrete blocks so that the rail will also be prevented from moving in longitudinal direction. VIf the rail, during passage of a tug-boat, is lifted from the concrete blocks, a considerable Itension will be imparted to the rail, this tension causing the rail upon being released to move back into its original position by reason of' its resiliency.

In the modification shown in Figs. 2 and 6 projections c are provided on the rail, said projections c being engaged by recesses provided in the concrete blocks a serving for the support of the rail. These projections o may of course be also provided on the concrete block and the recesses on the rail if dsired. In lifting the rail the same action takes place as in arrangement according to Fig. l.

The rail may also be kept safely in position without employing any blocks or similar supporting devices, if the bottom of the river or canal is, for instance, made of gravel, by having merely mandrels or projections Z provided in a downward position on the rail which pierce into the bottom of the canal or river as shown in Figs. 3 and 7.

The modification shown in Fig. 4L consists therein that ties f are provided upon the bottom of the river or canal. Mounted upon these ties are Supports or frames e which are either smooth and held by mere friction or which are provided with special flanges entering into the ground, as shown in Fig. S. With these frames e the flexible rail I) is connected by means of hinged joints g. An arrangement of this kind is advantageouslyemployed in case of deep water.

Having thus described our invention we` water bed respectively, said members being detached from one another but adapted to operatively engage with one another when the rail is lowered, to prevent displacement of the rail in a horizontal direction.

2. In a towing system for ships, the combination of a flexible rail or guide mounted upon the water bed and adapted to be lifted during passage of a tug boat, and blocks arranged in the water bed, said blocks adapted to engage with said rail or guide when the latter is lowered for supporting the same and preventing motion thereof in a horizontal direction. f

3. In a towing` system for ships the combination of a flexible rail or guide mounted upon the water bed and means for preventing displacement of said rail in a horizontal direction, said means comprising a support carried by the rail and adapted to be lifted with the rail and disengaged from the water bed during passage or" a tugboat.

4. In a towing system for ships the combination of the water bed and a iiexible rail, and means carried by one of them and detao-hed from the other, but adapted to operatively engage with the other, when the rail is lowered, to prevent displacement of the rail in a horizontal direction.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our signatures in the presence of the subscribing witnesses.

GEORG MEYER. RICHARD KOSS. Witnesses for Georg Meyer: VOLDEMAR HAUPT, HARRY L. lViLsoN. Witnesses for Richard Koss:

ALBERT NUFER, JULIUs FEsTNER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

